Sunday, June 28, 2009

We arrived safely in VA on Wednesday and have been busy unpacking and unpacking and...oh yea, unpacking.Today we did take some time to check out the neighbors, so we headed a few miles down the road to to meet Mr. Madison at his place, "Montpelier", the in-progress renovation of the beautiful home of our 4th President, James Madison. Of course the President was not home...but our guide made it easy to feel the presence of the aptly named "Father of the Constitution."Our afternoon road trip was an effort to explore our new chosen home, and we didn't orignally plan to visit Montpelier, but as we waited for our tour to begin I realized it was exactly 173 years to the day, the Madison died there. For you radio folks, Madison it turns out, also could be called the "Father of Reseach." In preparation for the 2nd Continental Congress, Madison developed the Virginia Plan, by researching great governments of the ages to come up with a plan that would work for our own young country.Kind of a great way to do things-taking the best of what works and using it. Not imitating, not taking a cookie-cutter approach...taking the best of everything and adapting it for your needs...or the needs of your residents (listeners). What a great way to run a radio staion (country)!Thanks Mr. Madison, stop over some time and I'll show you how to use Selector.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I enjoyed every second of the Sugarland/B52's performance of "Love Shack" during the 09 CMT Video awards. Taylor Swift rapping "Thug Story" with T-Pain made me smile, too. I know some people get all bent out of shape with the increasing pop influence in country music and CMT always does it's best to include performances like these...but c'mon...it was FUN.Plus you still have Brad Paisley taking home 3 awards and performing "Then"...and Trace with, "You're Gonna Miss This" (shout out to Wayne Addleman on pedal steel!)...two real country songs with real country themes.Before the purists start bitchin'...remember...there have always been lots of people coloring outside of the lines. Thinking of you Mr. Cash.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

With apologies (not really) to Jon and Kate who are very busy trying to screw up the lives of their young children.As many of you know, we're in the middle of a life-changing move. Our pursuit of radio is taking us 300 miles from home to central VA. Karen & I and 2 of the boys will call VA home in 2 short weeks. Our other 4 children are in school, on their own and will visit.For the radio crowd...moving comes with the gig, I know...but so far we have taken short journeys.My wife has been away and on the job for 5 weeks...we've been packing and trying to sell a home. I've interviewed and searched for a new job in radio. Together we've searched on-line and in person for a new place to live.I'm happy to report we've found a wonderful place perfect for us, close to work, with the amenities that will make a difficult situation much easier.This is where I admit it IS difficult. Our career-based decision affects all of us in different ways, but in the end, is the right decision.Radio people have always moved across the country for the next gig...because they feel so strongly about what they do, and because they feel so strongly...the business of radio is better. The passion that exists in the radio business is the reason it WILL survive all the BS...all the challenges and changes.No offense to the man with the pipe wrench, but I don't know of many plumbers who uproot it all to install a toilet.You have to care about what you do enough to step off the edge. The decision to move wasn't a premium choice...it was our choice. I'm glad we made it.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

It was bound to happen right? As the industry changes, do we really need a publication called Radio & Records. Actually...yes. Take away the highly researched, over "Big Brothered" stations and you have a huge chunk of the radio industry, smaller operators without budgets, without research, without consultants who can use this info. R & R charts can help point the way for some, provide contacts for others and be a source of great ideas and information about music, sales, promotions and more. A lot of good people are out of work (like in the rest of our industry)and I feel for them...and for those who looked forward to weekly updates about many aspects of our business. There are still avenues to find the info, online, other publications, etc. - but no more R & R? That would be like losing local announcers in favor of generic across the board programming...and that wouldn't be very P.C. now would it?